Regulating device



Dec. 29, 1942. MUSTEE 2,306,793

REGULATING DEVICE Filed July 25, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l 44 45 a as BY MALQQZC Dec. 29, 1942. J. F. MUSTEE REGULATING DEVICE Filed July 25, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ilk-22;? 566 INVENTOR; Joseph FMuszee 9/ 4' v I I l 0 I ATT NEy.

Patented Dec. 29, 1942 REGULATING DEVICE Joseph F. Mustee, Cleveland, Ohio Application July 25, I939, Serial No. 286,391

9 Claims. (Cl

My invention relates to snap action leversand more particularly to snap action levers adapted to regulate the flow of gas to a hot water heater. I 'An object of my invention is to provide a snap action valve for regulating the flow of gas to a main burner and a pilot burner in accordance with the demands of two thermostats; one of the thermostats being governed by the existence of a by two thermostats.

Still another object of my invention is to auto matically govern the heating of a hot water tank by shutting the gassupply off and turnin it on and to provide a pilot light to ignite the gas as it is turned on.

A' still further object of my invention is to pro- 3 vide a valve which will shut the supply of ga to the pilot off when the pilot light is extinguished.

A further object of my invention is to provide a gas supply control which is normally biased open and to provide two thermostats which can independently influence the control to quickly shut I the supply of gas oil".

Still another object of my invention is to provide a double thermostat control for a gas supply valve and to arrange the control in such a manner that the closed valve cannot be automatically opened unless the pilot flame is ignited.

'Another object of my invention is to provide a spring biased snap action lever for operating a "valve and to pivotally mount the lever on two knife edges and to provide thermostatic means for moving these knife edges to cause the biasing spring to snapthe lever back and forth to actuate the valve.

snap actionmechanism influenced by three movable conditions.

Other objects anda fuller understanding oi my invention may be had by referring to the following descriptionand claims, taken in combination? .3

with the accompanying drawings in which: 7

Figure l of my drawing is a view of a system installation embodying my invention in which the 1 hot water heater and storage tank are shown a partly cut away and in which my invention ist;

shown mounted on thehot water tank. Part of v heater.

.7 7 i0, Another ob ect of my invent on is to prov1dea tion removedfroin the hot Water tank and taken along line Z2 of Figure l. i

Figures 3, 4, 5. and. 6 are diagrammatic sketches showing the relative positions of important points of my invention through several operations.

Figure '7 is an isometric view of the snap action lever which actuates the valve in my invention,

and

Figure 8 is an isometric view of another embodiment of my invention showing a snap action lever which moves on knife edges only.

For illustrative purposes I have shown my devices as-used in connection with a domestic hot water heating system which utilizes a storage tank and a heater. .It is to be remembered, however, that this illustrationis only by way of example and that my device is adapted to many other uses. v a

In the preferredembodimcnt illustrated in Fig- Iure 1 I show the lower portion of a hot Water storagetank indicated by the reference character I9,

a small hot. water heater I I and my control device indicated generally by the numeral I2 and enclosed in a casing I9. In actual practice my device I2 is quite small compared to the tank and However I have drawn the device I2 to an enlarged scale in order to more efficiently and accurately illustrate the various features. My device I2 isattached to the hot water tank I I by any suitable means such as a water tight screw means I3 through the wall I4 of the tank and a bolt I5 through a flange on the device I2 and through a flange onthe tank I I. Through the tank wall I4 at the water tight seal I3 I pass a thermostatic element I6 which is comprised of a highly expansible hollow tube II within which thereis a small wire I8 of relatively non-expandablevmaterial. The ,wire I8 is fixed by solder or other suitable means to the bottom of the tube I1 and extends the length ofthe tube into my device I 2. 1

Atone end of my I2 a gasinlet pipe 29 .passes through the casing by suitable gas tight means into a chamber 2I.

From the chamber 2| the gas is at all times free to pass to a compartment 22 and when a valve 25 is open the gas is free to pass into acompartment 26 where the reglating mechanism of my invention is located. From the compartment 26 the gas flows into a gas pipe il which leads to the hot water heater II whereitburns in a burner 28. Water is heated in the" coiled pipe 29.and passes out of the heater II and into the storage tank Ill by means of a pipe30." f

The flame in the burner 28 is extinguished when the water in the storage tank heats the thermostat I6 to a set degree thereby actuating my device |2 to close the valve 25 and shut off the gas supply to the burner. To relight the burner 28 when the water in the tank cools, I provide for the thermostat IE to actuate my device |2 to open valve 25 thereby reestablishing a gas supply to burner 28, and for a pilot burner 3| to ignite the gas. Gas is supplied to the pilot burner 3| from the gas inlet pipe through the compartment 2 I, a valve opening 33, a compartment 34, and a pilot supply pipe 35.

The burner valve 25, which in Figure 1 i shown closed, is normally biased open by a lever 35 which is actuated by a spring 31. v

In operation the pilot burner 3| and the main burner 28 are ignited. The water in the coiled pipe 29 is heated and rises through pipe 33 to the top of the storage tank Hi. When suflicient water has been heated the hollow thermostat tube I? expands and pulls on the relatively non-expandable wire I8. The wire I9 is fastened to'a transverse'bar 33 which is in turn mounted'on one side of a rotatable axis 39. The pull that is exerted on the transverse bar 38 causes the axis 39 to rotate thereby snapping the lever 35 to downward position which allows the coiled spring 49 to force the valve to seat and shut off the gas supply to the main burner. snap will be explained later. The closing of. the valve 25 does not affect the pilot burner 3| as its supply is free to pass from the chamber 2| into successive compartments 22 and 34 and through the supply pipe 35 to the pilot burner.

When the supply of hot water in the storage tank H] has been used to an extent that the cold water which replaces the used hot water affects the thermostat IE it causes the hollow tube IT to contract thereby relieving the tension on the wire IS, The spring actuated lever 36 by reason of its bias, will then return to its normal position thereby opening the valve 25. The restored flow of gas to the burner 28 will be ignited by the flame from the pilot burner 3| whichislocated close by. This cycle will continue as long as the pilot flame does not blow out while the main burner is shut ff. If the pilot flame is extinguished while the main burner is ignited the pilot flame will be relighted without anythermostatic action. I

To guard against having the pilot flame go out while the main burner is shut off and to prevent the thermostat Hi from opening the main burner valve 25 while the pilot is not ignited, I provide a second thermostatic action which is actuated by the heat of the pilot flame. Between the pilot burner 3| and the main burner 28 I have mounted a bimetal pilot thermostat element 42. This pilot thermostat 42 is placed between the pilot flame and the main burner. in order that the flame from the pilot will strike the thermostat element before it passes to the main burner. This serves t continually keep the element hot and bent toward the main burner.

The pilot thermostat 42 is connected to the device I 2 by. means of a flexible control cable 43 which is carried in a bendable tube 44. An adjustment comprised of two threaded nuts 45 and double ended adjusting member 46 is inserted in the control between the thermostat element and the device i2, The nuts 45are attached to the bendable tube in such a manner that the rotation of the adjusting member 46 will alter the position of the flexible cable 43. One end The operation of the I of the control cable 43 is attached to a movable part of the thermostatic element 42 while the other end is fixed to a pivotal arm 47 in the device l2. A pilot valve 32 is attached to the flexible cable 43 and is adapted to seat in the pilot valve opening 33 when the flexible cable is actuated upon the extinguishment of the pilot flame. The seating of the pilot valve 32 shuts off the supply of gas to the pilot burner. To provide power for actuating the flexible cable 43 I insert a spring 50 in the flexible cable 43 which pulls against the bimetallic element 42. The force exerted by the bimetallic element when heated by the pilot flame 3| is opposite to and greater than the force exerted by the spring 50 and therefore prevents the pilot valve 32 from seating in the valve opening 33 as long as the pilot flame is burning. However, if the pilot flame goes out and is not immediately reignited by the flame in the main burner the bimetallic element 42 bends toward the spring 59 thereby allowing the spring to close the pilot valve 32 and cut off the flow of gas to the pilot burner. The same action by the spring 59 actuates the pivotal arm 41 and causes the main burner valve to snap shut thereby cutting off the flow of gas to the main burner. This action will be explained in detail later. To relight the pilot burner and the main burner it is necessary for a person to push in on the push button 5| which normally is held out by the spring 52, This action opens a valve 53 and permits gas to flow to the pilot burner 3|. The gas at the pilot burner is then ignited. The push button 50 must be held down until the bimetallic element 42 bends sufficiently t overcome the force of the spring 50 and open the valve opening 33. The push button 59 can then be released and the spring 5| will operate to close the push button valve 53. The system is now in normal operation and will cycle of its own accord.

My device |2 by which snap action opening and closing of the main burner valve 25 is obtained is comprised of the rotatable member 39 to which the transverse bar 38 is welded or otherwise rigidly attached. The member 39 is incapable of translatory movement and is therefore a reference point for movable points on the device. To

the transverse bar the non-expandable wire I8 *is attached. The wire I8 is attached to the trans- -,verse bar 38 at a distance from the rotatable rotatable member 39 causes the knife edge bar 54 to rotate also. One end of the knife edge bar 54 turns downward substantially and is provided with a first notch 55 which is adapted to receive a first knife edge bearing 56. A second notch 51 is provided into which a second knife edge bearing 53 is adapted to flt. The knife edge bearings 56 and 58 are the end points of .the aforementioned substantially U-shaped lever 33 which is biased toward the valve 25 and which is held in place against the notches 55 and 5'! by the action of the spring 37. One end of the spring 37 is attached to the knife edge transverse bar 54 on the opposite side of the .rotatable member 39 from the first notch 55.

The other end of the spring 31 is attached to the cross-bar 59 of the substantially U-shaped lever 35. The spring 31 thereby urges the lever '35 toward the transverse knife edge bar 54 there extends from the upstanding member 52.

while the pilot burner flame is out.

holding the first knife edge bearing 56 in the '25 as the lever 36 snaps back and forth.

The rotatable member 39 to which the transverse bar 38 and the knife edge transverse bar 54 are attached and to which the lever 36 is spring biased, is attached to a plate 64 by means of three turned lips 65, 66 and 61. The rotatable member is set at an angle to the plate 64 and the lips which hold it there are the high lip 65 through which the rotatable member extends,

the medium lip 66 through which the member justable with respect thereto by the rotational movement caused by the rotation of the member 39. The second notch 51 is indirectly attached to the plate 64 by means of an L shaped member '69 which is loosely attached to the plate 54 at points 18 and H. At the junction of the two legs the L shaped member 69 is movable with respect to the plate 64. Attached to the L shaped mem ber 69 at the junction of its two legs is an upstanding member 62 which has thereon the secnd notch 51. The pivotal arm 41 is interposed between the plate 64 and the L. shaped member 69 and is pivoted at point '1 l. Carried by the pivotal arm 41 is a positioning lug 12 having a flat top portion 13 and an inclined face portion i l. The inclined face portion 14 is adapted to engage a projection 15 which extends out from the upstanding member 52, The pivotal arm 41 is adapted to be actuated by pilot thermostat 42 and the spring 58 to swing the arm 41 thereby causing the inclined face M of the positioning lug 12 to move underneath the projection 15 which This action which arises when the pilot flame goes out thereby allowing the force of the spring 58 to overbalance the force of the bimetallic element 42 causes the upstanding member 32 and the second notch 57, together with the L shaped member 68, to ride up onto the flat top of the positioning lug 12. The elevational movement to ;which the second notch 51 is subjected causes :thesecon'd knife edge bearing 58 to be elevated also and results in a snap-action of the lever 38. This action to which the lever 36 is subjected renders it inoperative, upon actuation by the hot 'water storage tank thermostat l6,-to open the 'valveand allow gas to flow to the main burner Upon the pilot burner being reignited by the manual proc- 'ess heretofore described, the force of the bimetallic element 42 overpowers the force of the spring 58 and actuates the pivotal arm 41 to allow the L shaped member, the upstanding member 62, the

second notch 57 and the second knife edge bearing 58 to drop back into their previous positions. Upon being repositioned the lever 38 can be actuated by the tank thermostatic element Hi to open and close valve 25. The connection from the bimetallic element, 42 to the device l2'has been described as a flexible cable ,43. However, from the adjusting nut 45 to the pivotal arm, it is desirable that the connection be stiff. To that "end,

therefore, I have arranged the valve 32 and a.

spring stop be mounted on a stiff member 8!.

direction of that slight movement.

through the same lever 36, positively prevents the main burner valve 25 from being opened by the action of the storage tank thermostat IS. The action of the flexible cable 43 and the stiff control member 8! also serves to prevent the flow of gas to the pilot burner 3| when there is no flame present to consume it, by causing valve 32 to seat and shut off the flow of gas through the opening 33.

In Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 I have diagrammatically illustrated the changes which take place in the alignment of the first and second knife edge bearings 55 and 58, the axis of rotation of the member 39 and a point 83 where the spring 31 is attached to the knife edge transverse bar 54. These points are illustrated as an end view of Figure 2 looking from the right hand side.

My device i2 is normally biased by spring 31 to hold valve 2'5 open against the push of the spring 48 and normally allows gas to flow to the pilot burner 3!. This position is diagrammatically illustrated by Figure 3 in which the second knife edge bearing 58 is positioned down on a base line to indicate that the pilot valve is open and burning normally. The rotatable member 39 is positioned higher than point 58. A line 84 is drawn between the two points 58 and 38. As both point 58 and point 39 are stationary with respect to the base plate 64 during normal cycling operation governed only by the storage tank thermostat Hi, the line 84 is stationary. Both of the points 83'and 56 revolve about point 39 in a counterclockwise direction as the water in the storage tank [8 heats up and rotate in a clockwise direction when the hot water tank cools down. The line 85, therefore, revolves in a counterclockwise direction when the storage tank l8 heats up and in a clockwise direction when the tank cools down, When the line coincides with line 84 the lever 36, which is suspended upon points 56 and 53, is in a neutral or critical position. The slightest amount of movement by line 35 causes the spring 31 to snap the lever 36 in the Therefore, when point 83 is above line 84 the spring 31 is urging the lever upward to its fullest extent and the valve 25 is held open. When the thermostat l3 begins to heat and expand it pulls on the transverse bar 38 thereby rotating member 39 and the line 85 between points 58 and 83 in a counterclockwise direction. When the line 85 cuts through line 84 the lever 38 has passed its critical point and the spring 3'! acts to snap the lever downward thereby allowing the coiled spring 43 to snap the valve 25 shut. This position is illustrated in Figure 4.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate the action of the pilot thermostat on the device l2. In Figure 5 the following condition is illustrated: point 58 is on its base line showing that the pilot burner flame 3! is ignited; point 83 is below line 84 showing that the storage tank is full of hot water and the I main burner valve closed and the flame out. Now

let us suppose that the pilot burner flame is accidentallyblown out, The following events-now transpire: due to absence of heat the bimetal thermostat 42 actuates the pivotal arm 4'! thereby causing the point 58 to move upward as indicated by the arrow in Figure 5; due to the lack of heat the storage tank l0 cools actuating the thermostat to cause the point 83 to pass through the line 84 as may be seen in Figure 6. This action would normally actuate the lever 36 to cause the valve 25 to open thereby allowing gas to fiow from the unlighted main burner 28. However, due to the action of the pilot thermostat the critical line 84 has been raised and a new critical line 86 established. The point 83 has therefore failed to pass through the critical line which would open the valve 25 and accordingly the valve remains closed.

Figure 8 is another embodiment of my invention showing the plate 64 upon which the mechanism is mounted. The pilot thermostat actuating means is not shown in this view, however, it is to be understood that the means may be added. In this embodiment of my invention I use a knife edge rotatable axis 81 instead of the bearinged rotatable axis 39. This reduces friction in the device. The knife edge rotatable axis 81 is suspended by notched legs at 38 and 89 and the action is similar to the action of the bearinged rotatable axis 39.

To provide an adjustment for my device I have arranged for a turnable knob so to be mounted on and project through the device casing I9. A long tapered shaft 9| is attached to the knob. An upturned lip 92 is provided in the base plate 84 and the tapered shaft 9| is adapted to thrust between the base plate 64 and the easing of the device at the point where the lip 92 is turned. This action will raise or lower the plate with respect to the casing thereby adjusting the point at which the lever 36 snaps back and forth.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A thermostatic control device comprising, in combination, a valve, snap action means for actuating said valve, said snap action means comprising a pivotal member, a transverse bar attached across said pivotal member and having a knife edge at one end thereof, a second knife edge, a substantially U-shaped lever to actuate the valve, a spring attached to said U- shaped lever and to said transverse bar on the other side of the pivotal member from the said knife edge and biasing the ends of the U-shaped lever to the two knife edges, first thermostatic means for actuating the transverse bar for effecting snap-movement of said substantially U- shaped lever and said valve, and a second thermostatic means for operating the second knife edge for altering the effect that the first thermostatic means has upon the snap-action movement of the substantially U-shaped lever.

2. A thermostat control device comprising, in combination, a valve member movable in two directions, snap action means for actuating said valve, said snap action means comprising a spring, a pivotal member, a bar attached trans- .verselyacross said pivotal member and having a first knife edge at one endand means at-the other end for attaching one end of said-spring, a second knife edge on the other side of said pivotal member from said first knife edge and a substantially U-shaped lever attached to the other end of the spring and biased by the spring against the first and second knife edges, said second knife edge and said pivotal member forming a plane and said first knife edge and the point on the transverse bar at which the spring attaches forming a line which is rotatable about said pivotal member and through said plane, the point at which the line coincides with the plane being a critical point above or below which the said spring snaps the lever to open said valve or to allow it to close, first thermostatic means for rotating said pivotal member to effect opening and closing of said valve, and second thermostatic means for altering the location of the said plane to prevent the said line from passing through the said plane thereby rendering said snap action means inoperative when said valve is in its closed position.

3. A thermostatic control device comprising, in combination, valve means, a lever mechanism for operating said valve means including two spaced bearings and a spring biased snap action lever having two pivoted ends pivoted in the bearings and swingable about said bearings in two opposite directions, first thermostatic means for moving one of said pivoted ends to cause snap action in said two opposite directions and second thermostatic means for moving the other of said pivoted ends to cause snap action in said two opposite directions independently of said first thermostat means.

4. A thermostatic control device for controlling the fiow of gas to a main burner and to a pilot burner comprising, in combination, first valve means, a single lever mechanism for operating said first valve means including a spring biased snap action lever having two pivoted ends, said lever being movable in two opposite directions to control the opening and closing of said valve means and said two pivoted ends being movable, first thermostatic means for moving one of said pivoted ends to cause said lever to move with a snap action to control the flow of gas through said first valve, a second valve, and a second thermostat means for moving the other of said pivoted ends to cause said lever to move with a snap action to control the flow of gas through said first valve, said second thermostat also actuating said second valve to control the flow of gas therethrough.

5. A thermostatic control device for regulating a first burner and a second burner comprising a casing having first, second and third compartments, an inlet pipe, a first valve into said third compartment from said inlet pipe, snap action means for controlling said first valve, first thermostatic means for controlling the said first valve in accordance with variations in temperature caused by said first burner, second thermostatic means for controlling said first valve in accordance with variations in temperature caused by said second burner, said second thermostatic means including control means extending from said second burner through said first and second compartments to said third compartment, inlet means from said inlet pipe to said second compartment, inlet means from said second compartment to said first compartment, second valve means associated with said control means for closing the inlet means between said second and said first compartments at the same time the snap action means closes the valve between the inlet pipe and the third compartment under the action of the second thermostat.

6. A thermostat control device comprising, in combination, a valve, snap action means for operating said valve, said snap action means including a movable point and a reference point and an adjustable point, said reference point and said adjustable point defining a critical line, first thermostatic means for-controlling said movable point to cause it to pass said critical line thereby causing said snap action means to snap, and second thermostatic means for adjusting said adjustable point to alter the position of said critical line to change the location at which said movable point will pass the critical line.

'7. A thermostat control device comprising, in combination, a valve, a snap action lever for operating said valve, a rotatable member mounted on knife edges and having a knife edge connection with said lever, thermostatic means for rotating said lever about said member to cause said lever to snap and means having a knife edge connection with said lever to alter the snapping of said lever as said lever rotates about said member.

8. A thermostatic control device for use with a heating burner and a pilot burner, a first valve for controlling the flow of fuel to said heating burner, a snap action lever means for operating said valve, said lever means having a first and a second end portion spaced from each other, a first bearing for said first end portion, a second bearing for said second end portion, resilient means attached to said lever means to urge it toward said bearings, the snap-movement of said lever means being effected by shifting the relationship between the first bearing and the resilient means, a first thermostat responsive to temperature caused by said heating burner to shift said relationship for effecting snap-movement of said lever means for operating the valve in accordance with temperature variations, and a second thermostat responsive to pilot temperatures to move said second bearing to prevent the said shifting by the first thermostat from effecting snap-movement of said lever means and to hold the said valve closed upon extinguishment of the flames at said heating burner and said pilot burner, a second valve for regulatingthe flow of gas to the pilot burner, said second thermostat also actuating said second valve.

9. A thermostatic control device comprising, in combination, a valve, a substantially U-shaped lever having two ends for operating the valve, a first bearing for said first end, a second bearing for said second end, resilient means having two ends, means for connecting one of said ends of the resilient means to the U-shaped lever, thermostat actuating means engaging the other of said ends of the resilient means to operate the U-shaped lever with a snap-action about the two bearings, one of said bearings being movable out of alignment with the other with respect to a plane in which may be at a given instant the other bearing point and the two ends of the resilient means, and means to move said one of said bearings out of said alignment to modify the action of the resilient means on the U-shaped lever.

JOSEPH F. MUSTEE. 

